Track 21: Infection, Prevention and Control
Infection prevention and control
Infection prevention and control (IPC) is a practical, evidence-based approach to preventing avoidable infections from harming patients and health workers. Effective IPC necessitates continuous action at all levels of the health system, including policymakers, facility managers, health workers, and patients. IPC is unique in the field of patient safety and quality of care because it applies to every health worker and patient at every health care interaction. Defective IPC is harmful and can be fatal. It is impossible to achieve quality health care delivery without effective IPC.
Hand hygiene, surgical site infections, injection safety, antimicrobial resistance, and how hospitals operate during and after emergencies are all affected by infection prevention and control. Programs to support IPC are especially important in low- and middle-income countries, where secondary infections can have a negative impact on health care delivery and medical hygiene standards.
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Hand hygiene
Hand hygiene is one of the most basic, yet crucial, steps in IPC (Infection Prevention and Control). Hand hygiene drastically reduces the risk of HAI (Healthcare Associated Infections) at a low cost. Hand hygiene consists of either water-based hand wash or hand rubs (alcohol based). According to WHO standards, hand washing is a solid 7-step process, whereas hand rubs are a 5-step process.
Before patient contact, before putting on protective equipment, before doing procedures, after contact with patient’s skin and surroundings, after contamination of foreign substances, after contact with bodily fluids and wounds, after taking off protective equipment, and after using.
Cleaning, Disinfection, Sterilization
Infection prevention is a field that describes a hierarchy of removing microorganisms from surfaces such as medical equipment and instruments. Cleaning is the most basic level, achieving significant removal. All pathogens other than bacterial spores must be removed during disinfection. The removal or destruction of ALL microorganisms, including bacterial spores, is defined as sterilization.
Cleaning
The first and most basic step in preventing infection spread via surfaces and fomites is to learn. Cleaning reduces microbial burden through chemical dead sorption of organisms (loosening bio burden/organisms from surfaces using cleaning chemicals), simple mechanical removal (rinsing, wiping), and disinfection (killing of organisms by cleaning chemicals).
Personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is specialized clothing or equipment that workers wear to protect themselves from hazards. Exposure to blood, saliva, or other bodily fluids or aerosols that may contain infectious materials such as Hepatitis C, HIV, or other blood borne or bodily fluid pathogens is a risk in a health care setting. PPE protects the healthcare worker from contact with potentially infectious materials by forming a physical barrier between the potentially infectious material and the healthcare worker.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the United States requires workers to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect against blood-borne pathogens if there is a reasonable expectation as a result of contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials.
Vaccination of health care workers
Certain infections may be transmitted to health care workers as a result of their work. Vaccines are available to provide some protection to healthcare workers. Healthcare workers or first responders may be required to receive vaccinations for hepatitis B, influenza, measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, N. meningitides, and varicella, depending on regulation, recommendation, job function, or personal preference.
Sub Tracks:
- Hand Hygiene
- Placement and Infection Assessment
- Safe Management and Care of Environment
- Safe Management of Equipment
- Safe Management of Linen
- Personal Protective Equipment
- Respiratory and Cough Hygiene
- Safe Management of Blood and Body Fluids
List of the 10 best Infection prevention and control University in the World
- Harvard University
- Johns Hopkins University
- University of Oxford
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- University of Washington
- Imperial College London
- University of California–San Francisco
- University College London
- University of Melbourne
- Emory University
Associations:
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Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN)
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American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)
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American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN)
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American Association of Nurse Anesthetists
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American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN)
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American Nephrology Nurses’ Association (ANNA)
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Association for Women’s Health, Obstetrics and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN)
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Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN)
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Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN)
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Emergency Nurses Association (ENA)